Large table

On the underside of this table, incised and inlaid in gold on the red lacquer coating, are characters stating that it was likely made during the reign of the Qianlong emperor. The inscription further states that the table was created for the Palace of Gathering Excellence (Chuxiu gong), which was completed around the 1730s and was one of the six inner palaces in the northwest of the Forbidden City.

This hall is most famed as the residence for the Empress Dowager Cixi, the main power at the Qing court from 1861 to 1908. Chinese furniture with inscriptions of this sort is rare, and this table sets the standard for imperial furniture of the period. It is made of rosewood (zitan), a tropical hardwood most treasured during the Qing dynasty, inset with panels of the finest white jade imported from the far reaches of Xinjiang in northwestern China.